OnDeck hired two senior financial services executives to its management team. Kelly Merrill and Erich Wust will assume new leadership roles that directly support OnDeck’s mission of empowering small business owners with the fastest and most flexible credit solutions

Kelly Merrill joins OnDeck as the senior vice president for Finance, where she will help lead the company’s short-term and long-term financial planning initiatives. Merrill brings over a decade of finance experience to OnDeck from GE Capital, where she played a leading role in developing and executing the disposition strategy for GE Capitals’s $200 billion balance sheet.  Previously, Merrill was the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of GE Capital Real Estate, where she led a team of more than 50 employees. Merrill is based in New York City and will report to OnDeck CFO Howard Katzenberg.

Erich Wust was appointed senior vice president for Portfolio Management. He will be responsible for managing portfolio credit strategies, balance sheet optimization and other components of the company’s loan portfolio. Wust joined OnDeck after more than a decade in credit and risk leadership roles at SunTrust Bank. He most recently served as the bank’s senior vice president of Wholesale Modeling and Analytics. Wust will be based at OnDeck’s offices in Arlington, VA and will report to the company’s Chief Risk Officer Nick Brown.

“We are delighted to welcome Kelly and Erich to OnDeck. Both are proven leaders with strong track records of success in the financial services industry,” said Noah Breslow, chief executive officer, OnDeck. “Kelly and Erich bring deep experience and expertise to their new roles, and their leadership will be invaluable to OnDeck as we continue our strong progress and evolution to profitability.”